Tuatara images (Sphenodon punctatus) - stock photos & facts on this miniature Godzilla-like reptile endemic to New Zealand
Conservation status | Least Concern
Scientific classification e > Kingdom: Animalia > Phylum: Chordata > Class: Reptilia > Order: Rhynchocephalia > Family: Sphenodontidae > Genus: Sphenodon > Species: S. punctatus
Binomial name | Sphenodon punctatus
Subspecies: Sphenodon punctatus punctatus, Sphenodon punctatus...
more »Tuatara images (Sphenodon punctatus) - stock photos & facts on this miniature Godzilla-like reptile endemic to New Zealand
Conservation status | Least Concern
Scientific classification e > Kingdom: Animalia > Phylum: Chordata > Class: Reptilia > Order: Rhynchocephalia > Family: Sphenodontidae > Genus: Sphenodon > Species: S. punctatus
Binomial name | Sphenodon punctatus
Subspecies: Sphenodon punctatus punctatus, Sphenodon punctatus guntheri
The Tuatara, Spenodon punctatus, is a reptile endemic to New Zealand. Its name comes from the Maori and means 'old spiny back'. Although they resemble lizards, they are a different order, Sphenodontia, and two species were formerly recognized, however, since 2009 they have been reclassified as just one species, and then, divided into two subspecies. The Northern tuatara, Sphenodon punctatus punctatus, is found on 29 islands in and around the Cook Strait, and is olive green through grey to dark pink or brick red, often mottled, and always with white spots. Brothers Island tuatara, Sphenodon punctatus guntheri, live only on North Brother Island and have olive brown skin with yellowish patches. Tuatara grow to around 32 inches long, and have a distinctive spiny crest along their backs.
Tuataras are unusual reptiles, since they like cool weather. They do not survive well over 77 degrees F but can live below 41 degrees, by hibernating in burrows in winter. Tuataras live separate from each other in well defended burrows which are sometimes shared with seabirds. Tuataras emerge from burrows, mostly at night, to eat any animal they can find, mostly insects, worms, slugs and millipedes. They do not chase their prey, but sit and wait for anything that passes by. They sometimes emerge in the day to warm in the sun.
The female Tuatara buries up to 19 soft shell eggs in soil, about once every four years. The eggs are left to hatch by themselves just over a year later. Males fight vigorously over receptive females, and often show combat scars. The winning male inflates his throat and raises his spines while slowly circling the female, lifting his body up and down with each step. The juveniles mature slowly for around 10 years and live for 60 to 100 years. The tuatara has a third eye on the top of its head called the parietal eye, with its own lens, cornea, retina with rod-like structures and degenerated nerve connection to the brain, suggesting it evolved from a real eye. The parietal eye is only visible in hatchlings, which have a translucent patch at the top centre of the skull. After four to six months it becomes covered with opaque scales and pigment. Its purpose is not known, but it is speculated that it is determine light and dark cycles, and helps with thermoregulation. It has no eardrum or earhole but hears through a middle ear cavity that is filled with loose tissue.
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